Tesla supplier Panasonic Energy: cutting China supply 'No.1 objective' for U.S.

Panasonic Energy India

07/01/2025 04:12

By Abhirup Roy
       LAS VEGAS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Tesla  TSLA.O  supplier
Panasonic Energy plans to eliminate its supply-chain dependence
on China for electric vehicle batteries made in the United
States, a senior executive told Reuters, calling the shift a
"No.1 objective".
    The comments from Allan Swan, President of Panasonic Energy
of North America, highlight how incoming President Donald
Trump's pledge to raise tariff imports on Chinese goods has
forced companies around the world to reassess their
manufacturing processes.
    Panasonic Energy, which supplies batteries to Tesla as well
as other automakers, is a unit of Japanese electronics giant
Panasonic  6752.T .
    The first thing the business has to do in regards to Trump
tariffs is "not to have the supply chain dedicated from China,"
Swan told Reuters in an interview in Las Vegas on Monday at the
CES trade show.
    In the United States, Panasonic Energy operates a plant in
Nevada and plans to open a second U.S. factory in Kansas this
year.

 (Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Las Vegas; Additional reporting by
Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by David Dolan and Peter
Henderson)
 ((Kantaro.Komiya@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @kantarokomiya;))